The Rural Alberta Advantage is a Canadian

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band that formed in 2005 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario. The band consists of Nils Edenloff on lead vocals and guitar, Amy Cole (Robin Hatch between September 2016 and January 2018) on keyboards, bass, and backing vocals, and Paul Banwatt on drums. They have released four albums and are signed to

Paper Bag Records Paper Bag Records is a Canadian independent record label, artist-management company, and music publisher founded in 2002 and based in Toronto. History The label was created to focus on the Toronto-area indie rock music scene. Initial signings w ...

in Canada and

Saddle Creek Records Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Mike Mogis and Justin Oberst in 1993 (as Lumberjack Records). Mogis soon turned over his ...

internationally. In 2011, they were nominated for a

Polaris Music Prize The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize; the prize was incr ...

History

The Rural Alberta Advantage was formed after the band members met while organizing an open-mic event at The Winchester in Cabbagetown. The band's name was coined by Edenloff's brother, when he wrote in an e-mail to Edenloff that he was planning to explore "the rural Alberta advantage" by spending some time back on the family farm near

Donalda Donalda is a village in central Alberta, Canada that is east of Ponoka. It was founded in 1911 and takes its name from Donalda Crossway, a niece of Sir Donald Mann, a Canadian Northern Railway official. It is home to the "World's Largest Oil Lam ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

where they had spent part of their childhoods.http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/rural_alberta_advantages_prairie_home_companion "Rural Alberta Advantage's Prairie Home Companion"]. ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', June 23, 2009. First formed in 2005, the band recorded a demo tape and released an EP independently before completing their first full-length album, ''Hometowns'', in early 2008. ''Hometowns'' was recorded and produced from April 2007 to March 2008 by Roger Leavens at BoomBox Sound in Toronto, Ontario. The band toured extensively across Canada, including shows at the

Pop Montreal POP Montreal is an annual music festival occurring in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the early fall, usually at the end of September or the beginning of October. More than 400 bands are scheduled to play in more than 50 venues across the city, most ...

and

Halifax Pop Explosion The Halifax Pop Explosion was a music festival and conference that occurred every fall, typically two weeks after Thanksgiving, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The term "Halifax Pop Explosion" also came to be adopted in the 1990s as the name o ...

festivals, to support ''Hometowns''. The band was selected as

eMusic eMusic is an online music and audiobook store that operates by subscription. In exchange for a monthly subscription eMusic users can download a fixed number of MP3 tracks per month. eMusic was established in 1998, is headquartered in New York Ci ...

's featured artist of the month for November 2008. The band subsequently signed to

in 2009, and ''Hometowns'' was re-released by the label in July. The band was also selected as the X3 Artist of the month by Aux.tv,

CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which la ...

and ''

'' for July 2009. Their second LP, ''Departing'', was released on March 1, 2011. The album was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize."2011 Polaris Music Prize Long List announced"
. aux.tv, June 16, 2011. Their third album ''Mended with Gold'' was released on September 30, 2014. In the fall of 2014, ''Mended with Gold'' was featured on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''

All Songs Considered ''All Songs Considered'' is a weekly online multimedia program started in January 2000 by NPR's ''All Things Considered'' director Bob Boilen. At first, the show featured information and streaming audio about the songs used as bumper music on '' ...

'' list for the top albums of September. On September 12, 2016 Amy Cole announced her departure from the group via the band's website. On September 18, the band announced a new tour with keyboard, bass pedal and backup vocals being supplied by Robin Hatch. On November 7, the band announced that their fourth studio album is forthcoming. Their fourth studio album ''The Wild'' was released on October 13, 2017. Its lead track "Beacon Hill" was inspired by the 2016

Fort McMurray wildfire A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

s. In January 2018, the band announced that Cole had rejoined their lineup. On March 31, 2022, their second EP ''The Rise'' was released with six songs.

Discography

Albums

EPs

* ''The Rural Alberta Advantage EP'' (2006) * ''The Rise'' (2022)

Singles

Compilations

* ''

Friends in Bellwoods ''Friends in Bellwoods'' is a compilation album, released in 2007. It was the first release on Out of This Spark, through a distribution deal with Sonic Unyon Records. The album is named for a house on Bellwoods Avenue in Toronto, shared by two ...

'' (2007): "The Air" * ''

Friends in Bellwoods II ''Friends in Bellwoods'' is a compilation album, released in 2009 by Out of This Spark as a benefit for Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank. The album is a sequel to the 2007 compilation ''Friends in Bellwoods''. Where the original album was, in par ...

'' (2009): "Rough and Tumble" (early version of "Barnes' Yard" from ''

Departing ''Departing'' is the second full-length album by Canadian indie rock band The Rural Alberta Advantage, released March 1, 2011 on Paper Bag Records in Canada and Saddle Creek Records in the United States. In a review of their December 2010 concer ...

'')

References

External links

The Rural Alberta Advantage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rural Alberta Advantage, The Musical groups established in 2005 Musical groups from Toronto Canadian indie rock groups Paper Bag Records artists Saddle Creek Records artists 2005 establishments in Ontario